A conference that focuses on superabrasives and ultra-hard materials will take place in May 2011. Intertech 2011 will take place in Chicago and run for 3 days.The Intertech 2011 venue, The Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago, boasts impressive facilities including; a brand new conference centre, accommodation, as well as trendy bars and restaurants.It is uniquely sponsored by various global abrasives industry bodies, including FEPA and the Industrial Diamond Association of America.

The event is publicised as an international technical conference and will cover Industrial diamond, Cubic Boron Nitride, polycrystallines, CVD diamond, Nanodiamond and other materials classified as superabrasives and ultra-hard materials.

Intertech 2011 is expected to draw in 400-500 attendees from around the world. It is aimed at the complete abrasives manufacturing cycle from international suppliers, manufacturers, end-users and machine tool builders as well as the scientific community, research facilities and academia. It will include tabletop displays and exhibitions from leading companies as well as technical and application presentations to evaluate the growth opportunities of diamond, CBN and other ultra-hard materials.

Next year’s conference is dedicated to technological advancement and application development with an emphasis on increased productivity and performance. The conferences emphasis also branches out from traditional abrasives and their applications to superabrasives and ultra-hard materials use in other areas; electronics, medicine and cosmetics.

Learning Opportunities

A new ‘special education session’ will feature at the event, covering the history, characteristics and industry applications for diamond and cubic boron nitride materials. The session is designed for people in the industry to become more familiar with modern day applications for superabrasives and ultra-hard materials.

Industry General

Since the use of natural diamond to grind tungsten carbide in the 1940’s, superabrasives are now used in a wide range of manufacturing and service industries with most advancements having been made in the last 3 decades. Superabrasives are now used in; grinding and machining of superalloys and high-tech ceramics, knives, laser windows, heat shields for spacecrafts, prosthetics, sawing or drilling of stone and concrete, nanodiamond vehicles, shaping wood and laminates, grinding glass and coating base materials with diamond film. The list is endless. Intertech 2011 aims to provide a platform to promote these new applications, communicate with industry peers and business leaders and provide education to this innovative and wide scoping industry.